NY tenant groups gear up for another roundSunday, May 27, 2012 08:42 PM |Written by David Howard King | | Gov. Andrew Cuomo touted it as “the greatest strengthening of rent laws in decades” when the state Legislature approved a package of bills last year that renewed the city’s rent control laws until 2015. But the most optimistic housing advocates would only call it a draw in their battle with real estate interests. Tenants Political Action Committeeand other tenant advocacy groups wanted more -- they wanted the state to limit landlords’ abilities to claim that they made costly repairs to apartments, thereby pricing them out of rent regulation. They wanted tougher enforcement to make sure claimed improvements to apartments were actually made. And they wanted the 2011 increases to keep up with inflation. But they didn’t get any of it. [Emphasi…

Click here for a flyer in English (Spanish coming soon) Sponsored by these member organizations: Housing Conservation Coordinators, West Side Neighborhood Alliance, GOLES, Tenants & Neighbors, CASA New Settlement, Central Park Garden Tenants' Association, Chelsea Housing Coalition and Goddard Riverside, SRO Law Project, Community Voices Heard, REINA & Met Council on Housing - as well as Assembly Members Richard Gottfried, Daniel O'Donnell and Linda Rosenthal - and more elected officials…

with elected officials representing Brooklyn & Queens. The Brooklyn meeting is sponsored by the several members of the Real Rent Reform Campaign: Pratt Area Community Council (PACC), the Association of Neighborhood and Housing Development (ANHD), Make the Road New York, and Tenants & Neighbors. For more information, or to volunteer, please contact Juanita Edwards at PACC, 718-522-2613, ext. 024.

Bronx & Manhattan Tenants Town Hall will be Thursday, June 7th to Hartley House, 413 W. 46th St. Contact Bennett, bbaumer@hcc-nyc.org, for more information.

The New York City Council held a hearing on Monday about Rent Guidelines Board Reform Legislation we've been championing. (The vote will be at the end of May.) On Monday, May 21, 2012, the City Council's Committee on Housing and Buildings held a hearing about Resolution #1329.

This resolution, which was introduced by Council Members Levin, James and Dilan, calls on the NYS Legislature to pass S741B Squadron/A6394B Kavanaugh – legislation that would make the Rent Guidelines Board (RGB) more inclusive by requiring members to have experience in areas beyond finance, economics and housing. This will help ensure that a wider range of voices are represented on the board. This state legislation would also grant the City Council the power to confirm mayoral appointees to the RGB. That way, we'll be able to ensure a better balance between tenant and landlord interests. Click here for the testimony of State Senators Squadron and Kavanagh.

On June 7th, come to a Tenants Town Hall, focusing on J-51.A proposed law will continue this tax benefit for landlords while protections for tenants fall by the wayside. Let's pressure the state legislature to pass some bills that benefit tenants.

Independence Plaza North tenants and their supporters rallied against the state's mid-level court decision in Denza. The court ruled that as soon as an owner takes a building out of Mitchell-Lama or a similar program, any J-51 tax benefits end along with the tenants' J-51 stabilized rents. The tenants are seeking permission from New York State's highest court to appeal.

Tribeca TribElected Officials Back Independence Plaza Tenants in Court CaseMore Sharing ServicesShare
BY CARL GLASSMAN
CARL GLASSMAN / TRIBECA TRIB
Elected officials joined a gathering of Independence Plaza tenants outside the complex in a display of support for the tenants' legal case.
Downtown elected officials are throwing their political weight behind the Independence Plaza North Tenant Association in its protracted legal fight with the landlord of the 1,331-unit Tribeca complex.

On Thursday, the officials stood with tenant leaders and about 100 IPN tenants in a show of support for their effort t…